Strong Writing Process is the Secret to Consistent Success

Write smarter, not harder.

If you don’t have an effective writing process, you can’t build a writing business. 

Just like with any other job or business. 

Hard to imagine a builder who just builds every day. A doctor who just operates. A software developer who just writes code. 

I don’t think the results would be very good… 

Yet, most writers see writing as a one-step thing. Writing. You sit down and you write.

This is the moment when you break from the herd and build: 

• A writing process you enjoy

• A writing process you can go through even if you’re the busiest person in the world 

• A writing process that creates attention-grabbing, heart-stealing writing

What we’re looking for is a way for you to do it like the pros do it — but also a way for you to love every step. 

You want a feeling of being entranced by your work. You want to be able to do it even in the shitty days. 

Some parts of the process you’ll like more than others, but it’s essential that the process as a whole feels natural to you, and not something you need to discipline yourself to do. 

And I think I’ve cracked the code by researching and trying the processes of some of the greatest novelists, online writers, screenplay writers and copywriters of our time. (Aaron Sorkin, Dan Brown, Joanna Wiebe & more).

Here’s your writing process + how long each step will (probably) take. 

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Step 1: Ideate 

New creators wait for great ideas to fall onto their laps. 

Top creators ideate. 

Here’s how to come up with top-level ideas, consistently: 

• Read. Oscar-winner Aaron Sorkin says he does two types of research: research where he knows what he’s looking for and research where he doesn’t know what he’s looking for. This is the second type. Fill your brain with high-quality information.

• Relax & do something fun. “A recent review by Rex Junge and colleagues explained what they think might be happening in our brains when we get creative. It generally involves reducing activation of the Attentional Control Network.” — LifeHacker. Dan Koe says he goes for an hour-long walk before he sits down to write. 

• Sit down and write 10 good ideas. If you can’t write 10, write 20. That’s advice from one of the most successful bloggers (among other things), James Altutcher. 

I get into more details about how to ideate like an OG in this post called Come Up With Thought-Leader Level Ideas, Consistently. 

The time it takes: Hard to say because you can do that in between other things. Read a bit in your lunch break. Then relax your mind on your way home. Then write 10 ideas on your phone, sitting on your couch. 

If I have to time everything in the ideation process separately, I’d say it would take about 1–2 hours. If you do it once every 1–2 weeks, I’d say it’s very doable. 

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Step 2: Structure

Creatives hate structures, but readers love them. 

Every successful writer in the world knows and uses structures, even if it’s to break them. 

Here are the structures you should know based on what you’re writing: 

• If you’re writing novels, screenplays or stories, you must know the 3 act structure and plot points. Yes, this includes writing short stories or personal logs on Substack.

• If you’re writing sales copy, you need to know PAS (Problem, Agitation, Solution), DOS (Desire, Obstacle, Solution), AIDA and the 4Cs. There are at least 100 copywriting structures and you don’t need to know them all, but the more you know, the more informed choice you can make. 

• If you’re writing online articles, you need to know the Inverted Pyramid structure. Personally, I prefer using the structure speech writers use for inspirational speeches. 

Now, all you have to do is write one sentence for each part of the relevant structure and you’ll have a very short, very basic draft of what you’re writing. 

These sentences will probably end up being the subheading of your online article, if that’s what you’re writing. 

Paid subscribers will get a document describing all these structures at the end of this e-mail. 

The time it takes: 10–20 minutes. Can be as little as 5 minutes once you learn a few structures by heart and know how to use them. 

“A lot of it is, honestly, trial and error,” says writer Achilles Stamatelaky (“Broad City”). “But, personally, I did two things: I read a lot of books [and] just nerded out on story structure. And then I would just read screenplays, I would read TV scripts — just exposing myself to a lot of the stuff that I wanted to make.”

Step 3: Research 

If you want to write great things, research. 

Dan Brown sends people to churches. Aaron Sorkin interviews real-world characters for his movies. Joanna Wiebe reads reviews of her clients’ competitors online. 

Here’s what to do if you’re writing online articles/newsletters: 

• Google your topic and add the words “research” or “according to science”. Example: “How to come up with better ideas according to science.” 

• Google your topic and add the name of a top publication in your area of expertise. Example: “How to come up with better ideas Forbes”

• Google your topic and add the name of a top creator you love, see what they have to say. Example: “How to come up with better ideas Tim Denning”

• Go to ResearchGate.net and see whether you can find a recent study on your topic. I love browsing their Social Science category. 

How to use this in your post: 

• Most research is for you as the writer. No need to drown people in stats and links. 

• Make sure you interpret and clarify what you learned as accurately as you can. If I copy/paste paragraphs from Research Gate directly, it won’t help the readability of my articles. 

• Choose 1–3 studies/people to quote and link to your post to boost credibility without being annoying. 

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Step 4: Write the first draft 

There’s a “secret” to writing a great first draft. 

Ready for it? 

It’s speed. 

The first draft must be fast. It must be, not because you’re in a hurry, but because it’s how you let your writer’s voice shine. 

Sit down and write (at least) a few sentences for each part of the structure. It’s okay to brain-dump. Write what you already know, write your opinion, and write what you think is the essence of it all. 

For an online article, this should take no more than 30–40 minutes. You go over that, you’re overthinking it. 

“I believe the first draft of a book — even a long one — should take no more than three months…Any longer and — for me, at least — the story begins to take on an odd foreign feel, like a dispatch from the Romanian Department of Public Affairs.”― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

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Step 5: Edit 

There are 3 levels of professional editing: 

• Developmental edit 

• Line edit 

• Proofreading 

Here’s how to go through them to make your piece of content the best it can be: 

• Step away from your first draft for at least a few hours. I recommend a day. 

• Go back and re-read it as a reader, not a writer. What parts are interesting and what parts do you feel like skipping? Anything that doesn’t make sense? Any section that could be merged with another section? Any point that needs to be separated into its own section? 

• Delete, clarify and restructure based on the above. Feel free to add embellishments, but not too many. Now, you’re done with the developmental part of the edit. 

• Go to line editing and make your sentences and paragraphs better. Shorten them. Delete redundancies. Delete at least some of your parasite words (very, that, actually). Find the right words to express your thoughts. 

• Then proofread. Install Grammarly, it could handle this part for you. 

The time it takes: for an online article, I’d say 1–2 hours. This is the most labour-intensive part of writing. It requires your focused attention. Some pieces will need more editing than others, but you need to get this right either way. 

This is where the magic happens. It’s what separates top writers from everyone else. 

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Step 6: Publish 

Some writers write and edit for weeks, then never publish. 

Some publish something and refresh the stats every few minutes. 

Some develop a smart publishing strategy which allows them to grow their audience faster. You want to be in this 3rd group. 

Now that you’ve finished writing: 

• Publish it. Even if you think it’s not ready. 

• Break it into smaller pieces of content and share it on SM. 

• After a couple of weeks, repost it on a different platform. I do Substack first, Medium second. You can also record a video for YouTube with that same script. 

• After 6 months to a year, you can repurpose it and republish it. Whoever read it probably forgot; some never read it; and you’ve accumulated a new audience, too. 

• You can turn your most successful pieces of content into an ebook or a free email course to use as a lead magnet. 

Then, instead of refreshing the stats, start thinking about your next piece of content. 

I’m sure you have so much more to share. ❤️

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Structures changed everything for me.

Every step of the writing process makes me better.

If I have to choose one game changer though—the one thing I wish all new writers understood—it would be structures.

It’s so easy for your writing to become… confusing. Just journaling, or blabbing.

Take no offence, we’ve all been there.

For me, it was the structure that helped me understand what boxes I needed to check with every piece of writing. It helped me understand where one box ended and another began.

It made it glaringly obvious when my writing was off balance: one part of the structure would be way too long, and another, non-existent.

If you want to be perceived as a top writer & be able to express your ideas as a thought leader, do yourself a favour and learn structures.

To help you, I’ve compiled the 7 Essential Writing Structures for Every Type of Writing into a short, easy-to-digest e-book.

Paid subscribers will be able to download the e-book below. ↓